Hey there. My party is exploring the village and are about to get moving to the western side of the map. The thing is, how steep is this hill? My party is thinking about skipping that whole windy path which they already see as a bottleneck for further gnoll ambushes (There was almost a TPK with eight gnolls using pugwampis as grenades and shields... heh heh.)
How far up is the climb to B13- the graveyard from the SW? How about if they tried to cross the river and sneak up behind B9? They've spotted the gnoll guard in the tower (some really hefty Spot skills from the monk) and are planning on coming in from behind. It's somewhat unclear (at least to me) about how hard this would be to climb. My party has gotten very cautious and strategic with their map...
Thoughts or am I missing some critical info?
Also, are those bridges above the monastery at B12?
|
I don't think the adventure goes into that much detail for the terrain, so you should be able to use your own imagination to create the surrounding area.
My group will probably hit this section in the next game session so I'd be interested in any detailed responses. I believe the picture on page 55 is of Kelmerane, so that might give you a good reference as to how steep the hills are for climbing. That picture helped me a great deal figure out the lay-out of the grid.
I think at the least it's got to be a difficult slope, or else there would be no reason for those gnoll choke-points to exist.
A steep slope is a climb vs DC 0, and a rope with a wall to brace against is a DC 5, so somewhere in there (easy, unless you've got a hefty armor penalty).
Although not exactly clear in the first adventure, the last adventure provides some good insight into how steep those cliffs must be...
So, the Battle Market itself sits 60' above the level of the river. This puts the cliff face on the north side as very steep/tall indeed, and this would include a climb to the church. Those bridges north of the church are going up the cliff from the fields, as it is noted that the cemetery overlooks the fields. So, that is the back way in, basically. This breaks somewhat from the picture on page 55, which shows hills going up at this point. I'm splitting the difference and basically saying those hills start just north of the map, creating a steep valley between themselves and the city.
My summary, climbing the cliffs = hard but possible.
Although not exactly clear in the first adventure, the last adventure provides some good insight into how steep those cliffs must be...
My summary, climbing the cliffs = hard but possible.
I agree with my esteemed colleague. DC25 with a chance of being spotted by guards.
Creative Director
|
The "slopes" are closer to cliffs, and DC 25 is closer to the target DC than DC 0. The road route up to the top is indeed the easy route; the cliffs help to protect the town in the same way that a city wall would.
And yes, those are bridges to the north; the "back way" consists of a narrow ledge leading down the cliffside that has collapsed away in places, requiring a few bridges to cross the gap.
Thanks all. Implementing this all right now. Which means our Islamic cleric will likely have a showdown with Halrunn in his future...